While students
all over Florida were encouraged to live blog about the Florida primary, the
media had different pursuits.
Sure, there were
gallant efforts by the politically-focused press, but the king of this week’s
news is not crowned among the realms of democracy. No, almost a week before the
actual event, the media is live blogging about the Super Bowl. On a site that boasts, "Where your daily sports conversation begins... and never ends." (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/early-lead/post/super-bowl-2012-media-day-live-blog-eli-manning-and-the-new-york-giants/2012/01/31/gIQASam7eQ_blog.html)
Now, there is no
political consequence to this— so much is true. In fact, it is clear that the
American publics are more interested in gladiatorial combat than Greek theater.
As I have drawn parallelisms between Rome and America before and now, I
probably will again. We are plagued by many of the same problems. Human nature
has barely changed over thousands of years, and we still prefer sex and violence
over more cultured or intellectual pursuits.
Pollice Vero, Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1872
But that is just
it.
The commercial
media and events-based journalism are built not upon the adage, “If you build
it, they will come,” as the comment-based presses of many other countries are.
No, it is built on supply and demand. The news is a product to be sold—not a
scrutiny to evoke thought. As long as our Cerberus is appeased with bread (see:
the story of Psyche in Greek mythology), he will silently allow issues to pass
under his watchful eye, silenced.
So too is our
press. So long as the watchdog is given ratings and advertising income, he is placated.
But while that is a problem rooted in the nature and history of our press, the
solution lies in us.
We define the demand.
We can break the cycle.
